Executive Leadership and Expert Bios

Gwen Bergen, PhD, MS, MPH

Behavioral Scientist

Areas of Expertise

• Older adult falls
• Older adult mobility
• Motor vehicle crash prevention
• Alcohol impaired driving
• Injury data systems (e.g., data linkage)

Gwen Bergen serves as a Behavioral Scientist on the Home and Recreation Team in the Division of Unintentional Injury Prevention (DUIP) at the Injury Center. She works to prevent older adult falls, to understand older adult mobility issues, and on investigating better sources of surveillance and economic data for unintentional injury.

Prior to serving on the Home and Recreation Team, she was a Behavioral Scientist on the Motor Vehicle Team. She began her career at CDC as a post-doctoral fellow at the National Center for Health Statistics working with the injury group. Prior to starting her career in public health she worked as a computer scientist designing, developing, and testing information systems.

Dr. Bergen received her bachelor of science degree in health systems and her master of science in information and computer sciences from the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, GA. She received her masters of public health from the Emory University Rollins School of Public Health in Atlanta, GA and her doctorate in health policy and management with an emphasis in social and behavioral science from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Dr. Bergen authored/co-authored several publications:

• Bergen G, Peterson C, Ederer D, Florence C, Haileyesus T, Kresnow MJ, Xu L. Vital Signs: Health Burden and Medical Costs of Nonfatal Injuries to Motor Vehicle Occupants – United States, 2012. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. October 7, 2014. Vol. 63(40). 894-900.
• Bergen G, Shults RA, Rudd RA. Vital Signs: Alcohol-Impaired Driving Among Adults – United States, 2010. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. October 4, 2011. 60(39);1351-1356.
• Jewett A, Shults RA, Banerjee T, Bergen G. Alcohol-Impaired Driving Among Adults – United States, 2012. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. August 7, 2015. 64(30);814-817.
• Sauber-Schatz EK, West BA, Bergen G. Vital Signs: Restraint Use and Motor Vehicle Occupant Death Rates Among Children Aged 0-12 Years – United States, 2002-2011. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. February 7, 2014. 63(5). 113-118.